The latest big-screen outing for the comic book hero sees Hardy play villain Bane and the Brit actor admits thereâs a lot of pressure to take on such a high-profile role.

‘It’s such an honour to be asked to be in Batman, full stop,’ the 33-year-old said.

Hardy admitted he would struggle to act if he thought about his role too deeply, saying during a press conference for his upcoming film Warrior: ‘If I think about it, what I’m doing in it, it would be so overwhelming that I probably wouldn’t be able to do the job so I’d rather not talk about it.’

‘It’s quite a big deal,’ he added.

The latest instalment in the Batman series has been subject to fervent speculation and anticipation, with clips and photos from the set making their way online.

But Hardy doesnât think the leaks will damage the film , telling Access Hollywood: ‘I think there’s a certain inevitability if you’re going to shoot in the middle of the street â that it’s very hard to block off the entire street from people taking photographs.’

‘But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be anything like the film. You have people taking photographs from a distance of what’s going on on the ground. It bears very little resemblance to what’s going on.’

The Dark Knight Rises, which also stars Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Anne Hathaway and Gary Oldman, is due to be released in July next year.